At the present day we hear and read a good deal about the ' British Sphere of Tufluence in the Yangtze Valley," and it is not unlike the battle cry of "On to Richmond" in the United States during the Civil War. The masterly inactivity on all sides is surprising, and this phraseology seems sufficient to shape the course while all goos to seed.
The Yangtze River, if viewed in any light, is rather a neglected and unknown quantity. The British Admiralty charts ure 80 obsolete and in want of correction, that a British Naval Officer cannot trust to them to navigate H. M. ships in the daylight, and the Navy is obliged to employ these tauddy waters, for ni range to say, unlicensed pilots to guide the war-ships in
there are no licensed pilots above Woosung. More wonderful still, it is the only place in the world where a British steamer can be manned and run without the captain avd officers holding certificates.
The lighting of the Yangtze has hardly been changed since the river was opened to trade. The Customs manage to change a light before it is likely to he washed away from the bank, but the North Tree Rock by the washing away of the bank has gone completely across the river, but still the Customs think the buoy put down to mark this rock is good enough for mariners, for it remains on the wrong side of the rock, and will be aground soon.
Ten years ago a light was asked for on Shansi Point. The petition was signed by Poking, where it is hoped the Boxers all the captains and pilots and sent to made light of it, but the Point remai dark one to find. Last year the Customs sent out papers to all the steamers plying en the river, asking this enigma to be solved: If you had ten now lights to put, onthe river, where would you place them and this riddle we are waiting patiently for the Customs to work out, There are no lights or marks of any description above Hankow, where four lines of steamers ply regularly, and the tonnage of late years has increased by one British, two German, and one Japanese line, not counting the oh battleship Palos," the pioneer of another new Japanese company. A hundred or more ships load rice ab Wahu every year, also the sugar ships to Hankow, and the tea vessels in their season. The Uustoms Service has not been backward in the way of " fines," or as the Commissioners term them "permissions to work," and it is not unusual for a river steamer to pay on Sundays 20 taels in three different ports to keep ahead with the mails of the steamers following. The "Sphere of Influence" in the future, we hope, will be less one-sided, and have mora light' in its programme,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.